Certainly the most popular hybrid car
on the road is the Toyota Prius. Toyota has made no secret of the
fact that it wants to have a full line of hybrid cars that rely on
the Prius name. So far, the only car Toyota has with the Prius name
is the one we are all familiar with.

The 2010 Prius hatchback
is the car DailyTechspent
a week with earlier this month. Toyota is now reportedly getting
ready to launch a new wagon or SUV using the Prius name. Toyota
doesn't offer traditional wagons in the U.S., but Edmunds
reports that the automaker does have
wagons in Japan that could act as the underpinnings for a Prius
hybrid wagon.

A Prius SUV would be no stretch either. Toyota
has the hybrid Lexus RX 400h in its line and has the small RAV4 SUV
in America that could be used for a hybrid platform.

According
to reports, the battery pack that the new SUV will utilize will be
lithium-ion. Toyota has said in the past that it felt lithium-ion
batteries were not
yet cheap enough or ready for retail use in hybrid vehicles.

Lithium-ion batteries are reportedly in the works for the
Prius through a program with Panasonic and new battery packs that
meet Toyota's price requirements may be available and waiting for a
new vehicle

The new batteries may be needed for the increased
power needs of a larger, heavier SUV or wagon pushing Toyota to
rethink its position on lithium-ion batteries. At this point, Toyota
has made nothing official and these reports originate from a Japanese
newspaper, Yomiuri.

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